Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-01-19
JOCKO RESERVATION.
A Charming Montana Garden Spot
Inhabited by tho Flatheads-
Tn" Loveiirst sheet Of water In the whole
NOrthwest-A Plentiful supply oT Fish,
Ducks and Geese Indlan Gam
bling IIaIlta.


Far up In the northwestern part Of Mon
tana Is located tho beautiful Jocko or Flat
head Indian Reservation. A visit % this
lovely garden spot would convince the
most skcptical that In some respects, en-
tircly too much sympathy Is wasted on
''thc POOR Indian" The JOcko Reservation
IL I'm the very heart Of the Kooicnai coun-
try AMI consists Of I "a, 500 acres OF soil,
al ~ which Il owned and controlled by 40
Flath"ads, $50 Kootcnai' and SO Pend
G'Orcillcs, giving a total population Of SIG
Indians Ducks, squaws and pappooscs) and
an average allotment Of nearly 100 acres 10
ca'h person. On this rcscrva ion Is the
lowell 81 sheet Of water In ih whole North
west--Flaihcad Lake. Tbs land around
this lake Il unoccupicd and from every aero
~ Il NJ least ton OF ilno hny coull be cut.
Tho soil In places Is a. black as coal, AMI
there Is no name for its ri, hness. Game IL
plentiful, especially blacktajl deer, and sew.
cu-up or tn, deer IL may be truly sail
tht they arc as fat ~ Luttcr.
Ducks, geese, whit1 aud black swan
fairly swarm over tho surface, and
In the waters beneath ar5 many
varieties Of Northwestern fish, viii
the Flathcals secure by spcaring. In win
Ter time they have great sport at spcaring,
and In summer. too, for On matter The
most abundant species Is n peculiar kind OF
rcd fish, which, think, Is fouil nowhere
else except In tho waters OF FlIthcad Lake.
Ono day this fall they hal grant fishing
or rather spcaring pirnic, in which every
body. squaws and children included. turned
out To lay in stock for future use The
bucks operated out In dcop water, while
the women and children spcarcd by wId-
ing AMI from along shore. There were
about four hundred Indians campcd at the
hoad Of tho Lake, and all. or nearly all of
them engaged in tho sport. in tho neigh
borhood of three thousand fish were
spcarcd most Of which were taken IN the
shoals and among the weeds aud grasses
Of tho creeks Tho Flathcdds preserve
these fish by drying th,m without salt.
They are frat dressed, then cut In two
lcngthwsc, the backbone taSon out, after
VIII en- th y arc dried separately. From the
variety 81 grasses growing near the lake
tn In inns select c,r;ain qualify called
=" wcet grass" from which they disti!l a
delicious perfume. 10 hrs long blade like
timothy. is str pod with shades Of grScn,
tnd when dried smells ike sweet myrrh.
boiling ard treating in some mysieiiou,
hammer. they get liqGid which has rare
aud fresh odor, much superior 10 our highly
civilized cologncs AMI perfumes.
Tho red men Of tho JockO Reservation Frc
perhaps further advanced In civilization
and civilized pursuit than Gny other tribe
or tribes In the Northwest AS rule, an
Indians first interest in civilization is man
ifcstcd by n love for whisky and an Intense
fascination for the gnmc of olSer. AS they
got deeper aud deeper in all tn, tricks and
ways Of the white man you can see them
driving shrewder bargains, trading horses
on thcir merits and always with an eye 20
~ ~, lott T, IL
rrc given 10 dudsh wGys. For instance,
they wear good clothes. own fast shoppers,
possess the showicst kind OF blankets and
curry plenty of silver. Some of them own
enc or more racc-hOrscs and do nothing
else for n living except gamble with each
other ON tho result Of a race. but principally
with outsiders. They haven't got the base
ball fever yet, but there 1, no telling how
fur advanced they will be by the time the
season opcus next year. All Indians
after awhile become expert card play
ers, aud the Flathcals arc no OK
ccption g. the rule. These latter gen
try AFRO not afraid 90 try their skill an
nerve with the spOrtivc fronticrsmcn of
tho Northwest, with " HON they frequently
have long slegcs of draw Some of these
youngstcr, who drew the right card
at tho right time have fine large
herds of ponies 10 their credit in consc-
quonce thereof. As Jockey riders tho Flat.
heads and their relations have perhaps no
equals ON en- IN. Raised az thcy are from
childhood almost on pony's back, so 20
speak, Il is no wonder they become superior
C,Hicstrians.
The above Is ono side OF the Indian qucs-
zion. Now 10 the credit Of tho Flathca6s,
Pend d'Orcillos and Kootenais, II should be
noted that In addition To the forcnamcd
1tul.
may be called, that they are "a very indus
trlOus people Most Indians live on forev
er In perpetual idleness, but the Kootcna
tribes arc certainly always busy at some
thing, whether II may be horsc-racing
gambling or manual labor Notwiihstanj
ing the limited population Of these tribes
they certainly make better showing In
tho way of agriculture and labor than any
other RID race I'm Montana. A compari
son with thor powerful ncighbors, tn,
Blnckfcet, Bloods and Picgans will better
show this fact than any thing else. Will,
the Bloods and Pcgans have been raiding
tho Crows, stealing horses running N
stock and commit ny thousand Othci
dcviltries, the Kootcnai tribes have beer
handling the pillow, filling tho soil, and, Il
the truth must be told. also playing cards
Tho Flathcads have 4OO,OO acres OF tillab,,
soil; tho BloOds aud Peg m1 2,0O.OO acres
Last year the Flathcads raised 2S,OOJ bush
els OF wheat; tho combined PicgaI
nation none. Tho former had 6,l9J acres
under CIVILIZATIONS; tho la'tcr -. Tn,
former broke S,OoO acres Of now soil IN,
latter ~ Tho Kootcnais on January ha,
1a,400 acres under fence. added G,OOO NOR,
this yoar, raised : ~ bushels Of c,rn, aS,Ol
bushels Of oats, nearly l3ON bush Ia OF DO
tatocs, i,sOJ bushels OF turnips 2.lGJ bush
els of onions, IuO bushels OF beans, sou
melons aud 400 pumpkins, while tn
Bloods dit simply nothing at nj and yc
who says tho Flaihcud combination l. not
civilized oncl They unquesti lnably ap
preach nearer to /. than any oth,r Indian
on ths continent